Despite the weather, we had a very successful Whitehaven Festival Weekend.  With nearly fifty visiting boats including one that had come from Hamble in Hampshire!  The festival witnessed a record number of visitors.

Even with the wind and rain against them, the marina welcomed over 40 visiting yachts including an Oyster 53 that had sailed from the south coast especially for the festival.  The marina also played host to four tall ships including the 45m Pelican of London, and two Archer Class Naval vessels.

The 45m Pelican of London tall ship

Although the weather meant it wasn’t possible for the Red Arrow display team to perform, visitors were able to watch superb firework displays on Friday and Saturday night.  Whitehaven Marina also held a welcome drinks reception for the visiting crews on Friday evening.  The reception was well attended and the weather remained dry, sunny and still long enough for everyone to enjoy a drink or two and a hot dog.

The fireworks over Whitehaven Marina

Both visiting and resident boats entered into the festival spirit dressing their boats for the occasion with flags and bunting with a prize for Best Dressed Boat awarded to ‘Sealore’ owned by Mr & Mrs McAdam.  The Whitehaven Marina team worked very hard throughout the event as well as in the lead up to it to ensure it was a great success for visitors by land and sea.

The two naval Archer Vessels